TR Forums

auxy wrote:

PenGun wrote:

I am under an NDA so no details but this one is gonna be big.

If you actually read the NDA you'd know that you aren't even supposed to tell people you're in the beta.

Anyway, my, uh, friend, is in the beta too, and she says it's a crap game compared to the free action MMOs out of Korea and China. But I wouldn't know of course since it's definitely not me in the beta.

Ah I did, but did not remember that. Anyhoo a mod today made fairly definitive post on the Bethesda beta forum, the open one not the test one, that said it's OK to tell people your are in the beta but that's about it.

Just finished about 2 hours ago, I think I put about 35 hours into it over the three days.

Whuu!

Played a bit of Elder scrolls online this passed weekend. Yes I got a beta invite. I also re-installed Skyrim and a bunch of mods, starting fresh. I never really finished Skyrim nor did I play any of the expansions, I only have one and that hearthstone and I cant figure out how to buy land or even start it.

Civ 5
Binding of Isaac
Little Inferno
Poker Night At the Inventory
Legend of Grimrock

Planetary Annihilation. And lots of it.

Dishonored (PC) - just got this and so far am really liking it.
Madden 25 (PS3) - Into my second season playing the Browns, and I am 6-2 which marks this as slightly less realistic than Dishonored

cphite wrote:

Dishonored (PC) - just got this and so far am really liking it.

What is Dishonored like? I've heard the name slung around a lot, but I don't know anything about it. What genre, and what is the gameplay like? Should I pick it up if I see it on sale on Steam?

Milo Burke wrote:

What is Dishonored like? I've heard the name slung around a lot, but I don't know anything about it. What genre, and what is the gameplay like? Should I pick it up if I see it on sale on Steam?

It's an FPRPG. It's pretty good. I don't know that I liked it as much as a lot of people seem to, but it is worth getting.

I don't know if I can describe the game well anymore, been a while.

Milo Burke wrote:

cphite wrote:

Dishonored (PC) - just got this and so far am really liking it.

What is Dishonored like? I've heard the name slung around a lot, but I don't know anything about it. What genre, and what is the gameplay like? Should I pick it up if I see it on sale on Steam?

It's a first-person role playing game... It's set in an alternate universe that looks kind of like 1800's England but with some high-tech intermixed, as well as some Steam-punk style gizmos. You play a royal bodyguard that is accused of murdering the Empress, and you have to clear your name and rescue her daughter with the help of some Loyalists. You carry a sword, various projectile weapons (crossbow, pistol) and you have some limited magical abilities. Your fellow conspirators can upgrade weapons for you, make new ammo for you, etc; and there are various other places to buy and sell gear.

The environment is really nice; the city has a really excellent "lived in" look and feel to it.

It's also cool that various characters interact with you differently based on how you act in the game; for example, if you treat every encounter as a killing spree, various NPCs in the game react to you differently than if you use more discrete methods.

So far, I've been trying to go the stealth route, killing as few people as possible. The stealth is implemented fairly well - it's not the best I've seen, but certainly not the worst. I'm not that far into it, and so far it has been a bit more linear than I normally like, but the story has been interesting enough to make up for that. Also, it's kind of amusing that if you kill a guard for example and leave the body in sight, other guards will understandably freak out when they see the corpse, but if you merely knock them unconscious, other guards will sometimes just remark that they shouldn't be sleeping on the job or something along those lines, and act like nothing is wrong.

Overall, I'm really liking it. If you are thinking about getting it, check out the Game Of The Year edition on Steam - it costs only slightly more than the base game, and includes four expansions.

How are the expansions? I never did get any of the DLC.

Milo Burke wrote:

What is Dishonored like? I've heard the name slung around a lot, but I don't know anything about it. What genre, and what is the gameplay like? Should I pick it up if I see it on sale on Steam?

Dishonored is by Arkane Studios, known for Ultima Underworld, Arx Fatalis, and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, all of which are amazing first-person RPGs. Dishonored is more of an appeal to the mass market, and it's definitely an amazing game, but I liked DMMM better personally. (I know I'm in the minority on that point.) Dishonored is very like a linear (not open-world) Bioshock. It's a great game.

Fired up Fallout 2 again for some nostalgia gaming (with Killap's Fallout 2 restoration patch). Made the Navarro run with a lvl 2 character and am kicking ass in early game.

Surprised how well the game has held up. Definitely a classic.

Since a lot of Skyrim discussion has been thrown around, what mods are people using?

I installed all the general "fixes" for making Skyrim "the way it was meant to be" with crafting overhauls, etc. It seems harder to level smithing this way, but maybe more realistic? But it's really subtle to the gameplay for me. Then again, my smithing is so high on my mid level (and only) character that I can make uber items with minimal effort and then have trouble finding NPCs with cash who can buy them. I feel almost like I'm cheating because I have more cash than I know what to do with. But crafting a set of nordic carved armor and than enhancing it to legendary is ridiculously profitable. And hard to hawk for full value.

(Does anyone else get irritated that the best gear is so accessible/creatable? When I played games like Knights of the Old Republic, it was all about trying to find some epic piece of gear! But now I can just craft them myself in Skyrim.)

I tried visual overhauls and lighting overhauls, but they decrease performance so much, and some of them seem to simply break the visuals of the game! One that got tons of publicity made everything basically black. Completely unplayable. I wonder why it did that to my install but not others? Turned them off.

I tried younger faces and the fancy Sky Hair or whatever it is called. But then you have old voices with twenty-something faces, and the hairstyles seem randomized and completely wrong for all the NPCs' professions and skin tones, etc. So I turned them off.

Packs for more feminine armor horribly break the lore. Tried them, turned them off.

And all the mods for a supreme mansion of one variety or another ... what's the point? I want quests and storyline and dialogue. Not a new environment to idle in. So I didn't even download.

I tried downloading a few animation tweaks, like more realistic idle animations, different bow walks, etc. But either the difference is too subtle for me to notice while looking for them, or they aren't working. Turned them off too.

I downloaded a specialized follower that was supposed to be unique and have her own quest-line, etc. But the communication seems extremely limited because she wasn't actually voiced, and I couldn't figure out any conversation options other than to tell her to dance. Not only that, but she had the face of a 14 year old girl, baby fat and all. Turned it off.

So ... which mods am I actually using? I can't really recall. I really like the spirit of modding, but maybe the mods I'm finding are just too poorly implemented? What do you guys think? Which mods do you use?

I don't have any installed right now, but I really liked one of the wilderness mods that adds more creatures.

Now there're multiple to wade through and I don't actually remember which one I was using before I uninstalled. Heh.

cphite wrote:

It's a first-person role playing game... It's set in an alternate universe that looks kind of like 1800's England but with some high-tech intermixed, as well as some Steam-punk style gizmos. You play a royal bodyguard that is accused of murdering the Empress, and you have to clear your name and rescue her daughter with the help of some Loyalists. You carry a sword, various projectile weapons (crossbow, pistol) and you have some limited magical abilities. Your fellow conspirators can upgrade weapons for you, make new ammo for you, etc; and there are various other places to buy and sell gear.

The environment is really nice; the city has a really excellent "lived in" look and feel to it.

It's also cool that various characters interact with you differently based on how you act in the game; for example, if you treat every encounter as a killing spree, various NPCs in the game react to you differently than if you use more discrete methods.

So far, I've been trying to go the stealth route, killing as few people as possible. The stealth is implemented fairly well - it's not the best I've seen, but certainly not the worst. I'm not that far into it, and so far it has been a bit more linear than I normally like, but the story has been interesting enough to make up for that. Also, it's kind of amusing that if you kill a guard for example and leave the body in sight, other guards will understandably freak out when they see the corpse, but if you merely knock them unconscious, other guards will sometimes just remark that they shouldn't be sleeping on the job or something along those lines, and act like nothing is wrong.

Overall, I'm really liking it. If you are thinking about getting it, check out the Game Of The Year edition on Steam - it costs only slightly more than the base game, and includes four expansions.

Your review makes it sound fantastic. And quite different than most things I've played.

Truthfully, if I had to err slightly on one side or the other, I'd choose a slightly more linear game if it has a great plot, dialogue, combat, etc. So this sounds like it could be a good fit for me.

But $30 (or $40 with DLC) is more than I like to pay for games. Maybe when it drops to $15 on a Steam sale, I'll pick it up.

tanker27 wrote:

Played a bit of Elder scrolls online this passed weekend. Yes I got a beta invite. I also re-installed Skyrim and a bunch of mods, starting fresh. I never really finished Skyrim nor did I play any of the expansions, I only have one and that hearthstone and I cant figure out how to buy land or even start it.

You have to find the thane of the area and he will offer you the land for ... I forget .... anyway it's not too hard once you find the guy you need.

I an amazed, but they did let me keep my screenshots.

cphite wrote:

It's a first-person role playing game... (snip)

I'd describe it more as a first person stealth/shooter with RPG elements. It's not stat-heavy, but you customize your character's abilities and powers based on your play style.

The environment is really nice; the city has a really excellent "lived in" look and feel to it.

Yeah, the city is amazing, in terms of character and mood.

So far, I've been trying to go the stealth route, killing as few people as possible. The stealth is implemented fairly well - it's not the best I've seen, but certainly not the worst. I'm not that far into it, and so far it has been a bit more linear than I normally like, but the story has been interesting enough to make up for that.

The plot is linear, but each mission typically has multiple different paths and options you can take. It ends up being a very good compromise between telling a story and giving the player freedom to explore and experiment.

Definitely one of the better games I've played in the past few years. Arx Fatalis was an absolute mess (even the Arx Libertatis fanmade remake), but Dishonored is finely honed and nuanced.

Thanks for yet another nod towards Dishonored! I'll definitely pick it up next time it is on sale.

Anyone else have opinions on Skyrim mods?

Milo Burke wrote:

Since a lot of Skyrim discussion has been thrown around, what mods are people using?

I use two: ENB's Seasons of Skyrim and Project ENB. (I cannot link 'cause I am at work but just Google them) Make sure you follow the instructions and make sure you have the HIRes textures pack installed, its a free download on Steam.

With both of these enabled and configured correctly Skyrim is jaw dropping beautiful.

Nice! I'll have to check that out!

Last night I discovered two mods that look incredible:

The first is an overhaul for the civil war going on between the Imperials and the Stormcloaks. Instead of it being a couple of lame battles that you can't lose, it ranges over every city in Skyrim. Guards of the cities under control by the opposing faction will attack you on sight! Unless you disguise yourself in their armor. Now and then a courier will come to you telling you a city is under attack, and you have to go defend it. If you defend it successfully, you can advance the campaign against one of their cities. If you lose it, control of the city switches to the other side, and then they begin sieging another one of your cities. And the battles are much bigger and more dynamic, with a broader range of enemies, and enemy AI that is actually reasonably intelligent with archers providing cover fire for the bruisers, etc.

The second is a roleplaying overhaul for the entire game. It stops all monsters and enemies in the game from scaling with your level, so you could be grossly overwhelmed by a specific battle at a low level, then find it very easy later. It completely redesigns the perk system to make it more logical, realistic, and vague on the descriptions (adjectives for what the effect is instead of numbers). It adds logical inconveniences, like a small amount of weight for arrows and coins. And it adds others challenges, like shopkeepers that will grossly rip you off if they think they can and your speech skill is too low, or the inability to pick even the simplest lock or pickpocket something really easy without prior perks. And simply wearing heavy armor without a perk drains your stamina. But then there are more perks to go around. There's heaps of changes I can't recall, but all of them seemed to make the game more immersive. And even the changes that are inconvenient make sense, and are balanced in a way that doesn't just make it too difficult to be playable.

The trouble is, both of these mods basically require you to start a new game. And as much fun as I'm having in Skyrim, I'm really looking forward to taking a break from gaming so I can go back to music recording. That probably requires I don't invest for a second play-through.

Don't forget it's April 14 when ESO comes out. I have 800+ hours in Skyrim and I'm done except once in a while I'll take the Dark Elf for a spin. He walks into groups of frost trolls on purpose, they are about a 2 hit kill for him.

Milo Burke wrote:

Nice! I'll have to check that out!

Last night I discovered two mods that look incredible:

The first is an overhaul for the civil war going on between the Imperials and the Stormcloaks. Instead of it being a couple of lame battles that you can't lose, it ranges over every city in Skyrim. Guards of the cities under control by the opposing faction will attack you on sight! Unless you disguise yourself in their armor. Now and then a courier will come to you telling you a city is under attack, and you have to go defend it. If you defend it successfully, you can advance the campaign against one of their cities. If you lose it, control of the city switches to the other side, and then they begin sieging another one of your cities. And the battles are much bigger and more dynamic, with a broader range of enemies, and enemy AI that is actually reasonably intelligent with archers providing cover fire for the bruisers, etc.

The second is a roleplaying overhaul for the entire game. It stops all monsters and enemies in the game from scaling with your level, so you could be grossly overwhelmed by a specific battle at a low level, then find it very easy later. It completely redesigns the perk system to make it more logical, realistic, and vague on the descriptions (adjectives for what the effect is instead of numbers). It adds logical inconveniences, like a small amount of weight for arrows and coins. And it adds others challenges, like shopkeepers that will grossly rip you off if they think they can and your speech skill is too low, or the inability to pick even the simplest lock or pickpocket something really easy without prior perks. And simply wearing heavy armor without a perk drains your stamina. But then there are more perks to go around. There's heaps of changes I can't recall, but all of them seemed to make the game more immersive. And even the changes that are inconvenient make sense, and are balanced in a way that doesn't just make it too difficult to be playable.

The trouble is, both of these mods basically require you to start a new game. And as much fun as I'm having in Skyrim, I'm really looking forward to taking a break from gaming so I can go back to music recording. That probably requires I don't invest for a second play-through.

I may need to sell my Skyrim for PS3 and buy the PC version... all these cool sounding mods...

cphite wrote:

I may need to sell my Skyrim for PS3 and buy the PC version...

And "they" say PC gaming is dead! /pish

If you like to do screen shots in Skyrim, this is useful:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... earchtext=

Here is one that benefits from that mod, I got a stack of em'. My Dark Elf at play, it's what he does:



Right click, view image for the whole thing.

Currently playing Metal Gear Rising, Goodbye Deponia, and Binary Domain on the PC, while I'm waiting on the second installments of The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead. Got stuck in Alien Rage and the Shadow Warrior reboot.

I really should get around to reinstalling Kentucky Route Zero and Sine Mora. Never did beat those...

Wow that Guild Wars 2 ending fight was...

retarded hahaha. I'm so glad I didn't care enough to do it before.

I just got a copy of Trine 2 and I must say... IT LOOKS SO GORGEOUS!!! SUCH BEAUTY, MUCH FANTASY!!! WOWE!!!

Seriously, folks... I know this isn't a new game but I just played through the tutorial/introductory part and I must say it's perhaps one of the most, if not THE MOST, beautiful game I've ever played!!! I've seen Youtube videos of this game many months ago but playing the game in actual, hi-res full-screen is simply eye-popping. It's like I wanna BE there. Youtube doesn't do this game justice. I intend to waste a lot of time playing this game!!!

Has anyone here tried The Stanley Parable? I just got it late last night. Fired it up and I must say... It scared me. Running around in an empty building not knowing what surprises the game may suddenly throw at you is just plain scary... PARTICULARLY if you're playing alone late at night. And the ending I got was kinda dark as well, so I quit the game and called it a night. I should play this earlier.

ronch wrote:

Has anyone here tried The Stanley Parable? I just got it late last night. Fired it up and I must say... It scared me. Running around in an empty building not knowing what surprises the game may suddenly throw at you is just plain scary... PARTICULARLY if you're playing alone late at night. And the ending I got was kinda dark as well, so I quit the game and called it a night. I should play this earlier.

Really? I found it rather humorous, especially when you make the narrator go off the rails. Which ending did you get?

As far as scary games go, I used to like to watch my ex-wife play the Fatal Frame series. Those will make you jump. Outlast definitely gives me the heebie jeebies. I need to finish that one, if I can work up the nerve. I've never been fond of being chased by unkillable thingies in scary games.

*edit*

BTW, good choice with Trine 2. I've played a little of it, and it looks quite nice. Reminds me of Odin's Sphere for the PS2.

There is at least one part in Outlast which made me stop playing a really long time, yeah. I finally got past it but I still have no desire to keep going heh. Happened to me in Dead Space 1 as well...but I eventually finished that.

Really ought to finish up Dead Space 3 sometime as well.

I made my wife sit down and play The Stanley Parable last weekend so I could watch. That is also a fun experience, especially when your wife starts to hold a grudge against the narrator and is just determined to defeat him.